GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (From news reports) -- A former Kimberly-Clark Corp. employee accused of stealing $1.77 million from his employer in less than a year has been charged in federal court.
Daniel Kersten of Neenah was employed as a consumer promotion manager when he and a North Carolina man began the scheme in which the pair ultimately got the large sum -- though they had sought more than $2.2 million, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
Kersten's attorney, Brad Priebe, declined to comment on the case.
The North Carolina man has not been charged.
Court records only describe Kersten's employer as "Company A," but his LinkedIn profile lists him as holding the position at Kimberly-Clark since April 2012, and articles quote him as being employed there with that title.
In response to a request for comment about the case against him, Kimberly-Clark spokeswoman Andrea Hopkins wrote in an email that the company "is aware of the federal investigation by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Kimberly-Clark has fully cooperated with the U.S Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation throughout the course of the investigation."
She also wrote that the company "places a premium on driving results through ethical business practices."
Texas-based Kimberly-Clark started in Neenah and remains a major employer in the Fox Cities.
Court records state that Kersten issued a series of fraudulent purchase orders for more than $2.2 million to the North Carolina man and his company. That man then submitted invoices to Kimberly-Clark for services he claimed his company provided. In reality he and the business had performed "little or no services."
Kimberly-Clark paid the $1.77 million between July 2016 and February 2017, according to court records. When the North Carolina man received the money in response to the invoices, he would electronically transfer Kersten's "share" of the proceeds to Kersten's bank account, according to court records. Kersten received 50 to 60 percent of the proceeds.
To make those payments look legitimate, Kersten would create fake invoices from his business, Kersten Unlimited, and send those to the man in North Carolina, records state.
Kimberly-Clark discovered in February 2017 that Kersten had authorized 12 purchase orders on behalf of the company. His supervisor said the company had only authorized him to spend $200,000 on services from the North Carolina man's business.
When confronted by his employer, he initially denied paying the North Carolina company more than $200,000 but later said he ordered about $1.1 million in services, court records state. He denied receiving anything of value.
Kersten was fired.
In September 2017, he told company representatives that he had received kickbacks in the scheme, records state.
An analysis of Kersten's bank records showed the North Carolina man had wired $952,500 to Kersten's bank account between August 2016 and January 2017, according to court records.
Kersten used $425,000 of that sum to buy a house on Whitetail Drive in Neenah, records state.
A plea hearing is scheduled for May 14 in federal court in Green Bay.
The wire fraud charge he's facing carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
